


The Day After The Fall Of Mankind

by orphan_account



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series)
Genre: Abuse, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Atheism, Depression, Drunkenness, F/M, Forgiveness, Friendship, Hatred, Hell, Humanity, Love, Nightmares, Pokephilia, Rape, Redemption, Self-Destruction, Self-Hatred, Sexual Abuse, Sexual Content, Survival, Telepathy, Understanding, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-23
Updated: 2016-11-06
Packaged: 2018-08-16 22:51:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 20,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8120671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: "Worse than loosing it all is knowing we didn't appreciate it until it was lost."Thomas kept in his mind that tought since HellFire arrived. Since the very second mankind fell, all that kept him alive was his loyal pokemon, Jane, the gardevoir.There is a long way to go to survive in a new world full of danger, and for the man once known as 'X' to face his demons, and convince the only person who wants him to suffer for what he did that he had changed: Himself.His main enemies incude wild pokemons, his feelings of guilt, depression and the war, carved into the memory of all the humans left on Earth by the man who destroyed mankind. Through their quest to survive, the survivors must learn to remember what they had, not to cry for what they lost and to appreciate what they still have. Each others. This is the first step to redefine the meaning of 'Humanity'.





	1. X

Jane was just finishing her chores around the house, still awaiting the arrival of her trainer, X. The powerful X.

She knew everything about him, since she was the very first pokemon he had. And as badly as Jane wanted to read his mind with her powers to know more about him, she couldn't.

Thomas Longfield was his real name. He wasn't a regular human. Some believe he was raised by gardevoirs since young, others think he was born with genes rare in human beings. But no matter what the explanation was to his powers, he owned them. He had the powers of mind controlling, mind reading. Telepathy. And he was a genius. A mastermind of coordination. As soon as 13 years old, he started capturing pokemons. Due to the fact he did not want to cage pokemons in balls, because he was always a kind, caring soul to their well being, he submitted them into joining his army by the power of tought. In the arena, the positioning of his pokemons, the combinations of powers, and the tactis were perfect. His brain was a machine. He was a super computer. And soon, the public was praising him. They were the ones coming up with the nickname, and he loved the idea. Once he came to the arena, they always shouted "X ! X ! X!". A mysterious, powerful name to a man just as much mighty and unkown as Thomas. And such power, such popularity, soon led him to the pokemon League. He was the most famous trainer in the world. And the fame didn't affect him. Power did...  
Soon, he was faced with problems regarding money, and needed to start illegal activities to pay his debts. Due to his magnificent capability of organizing and planning, he became a very rich man through illegal trading and capture of wild pokemons. He never let no one know about it, until he confessed to Jane just a few months ago.  
But then, his power overcame his desires. His brain evolved to the point where he could fully understand the feelings of pokemons. Some were beloved companions to their trainers, others were slaves. He felt all. All the suffering. All the pain. All the depression of every pokemon he faced. That's why he treated his pokemons like family. Because the feelings he had to carry were already to many to act like a ruthless leader to his crew.  
He went insane. He nearly drank to death every night for weeks. And his pokemons slowly abandoned him. To depressed to sustain his powerful bussiness, his money was lost.  
And as soon as authorities saw an opening, they atacked him. They wanted him for his crimes. 3000 pokemons. 500 trainers who were police officers. 200 armored cars. 10 helicopters. All making siege to his house. And all left to his defense was the weak wooden wall and his loyal gardevoir. There was no way Thomas could get out of that one.  
Once arrested, Thomas and Jane were alone. They had nowhere to go. And Thomas spent in jail only 3 months, because soon after his arrest, he arrived...  
No one knows his name. No one knows where he came from. He built an army from scratch. He had money. He was powerful. He had trainers, pokemons at his mercy, that helped him wage war agaisnt civilized cities in the pokemon world. He bribed, he murdered. He took control of our world. And he was just a mortal...his nickname was HellFire.  
Why ? Why did he do such things ? Because he could. He did not have a shred of Humanity in him. He was a monster uncapable of knowing right from wrong. He was an animal. An unstoppable war machine with a desire for blood and destruction.  
Of course he couldn't destroy mankind. But he sure as hell made it weak. Once the armies of the world could take him down, cities were destroyed. Villages. Cultures. Years of hard work. Gone. All gone. Now a few communities of isolated humans remain. Society will rebuild itself. But just as everything, it takes time. With such confusion, Thomas and Jane could escape prision in the war. With all men needed to fight back, looking for criminals was not a priority. 

Now, they live in a tiny house built by their own hands and minds, in the forest, away from the destroyed debris of mankind. HellFire may be gone, but there's a long way to go. And it started with the survivors of mankind. Now, the pokemon ruled the world again. Only some humans would own pokeballs and built a crew of fighters for whatever reason. Why that ? The world has ended. Focusing in building and exploring seemed like a much better way of spending time.

Time for toughts was over. Thomas was home.

"I'm back." He announced in his low, dark voice. He could use telepathy to talk to Jane, but he would soon forget how to talk using it so often.

"Hi, Tommy." The gardevoir greeted with a hug.

"I've told you not to call me that."

"But it sounds so cute !"

"That's why. Listen, i brought some food. We should eat and then go to sleep. It's getting late."

"But you just got home. Don't you wanna talk about anything ?"

"I'm tired. We should just sleep and wake up soon. Tomorrow's another day."

He always said tomorrow they would do something together. But it wasn't true. Jane wondered what happened to her beloved friend. They used to be so close. Now, it felt like he was avoiding her. Like something was hauting him. And she had to know why. She had to.


	2. Just a Bad Dream

Thomas looked terrified at the evil smile in Gardevoir's face, trying to set himself free from the ropes arounds his hands, that tied him up to the corner of the bed.

"How does that feel, Thomas ?" She painfuly crushed his genitals with her hand. "Does that turn you on ?"

"Please. Stop it !" He begged to the gardevoir, gasping in pain...

"After i'm done with you, pain will have a whole new meaning..."

"AHHHHHHH !!!" Thomas sat in the bed, waking up suddenly, to realise the terrible nightmare he had. Then, he rushed himself to the kitchen, where he used the big bucket full of water in the table that served as a sink, to wash his face, breathing deeply.

"Thomas !" Jane's sweet sounding voice was heard approaching him. "Are you ok ?"

"Of course i'm ok." He said. "Why wouldn't i be ok ?"

"You were having nightmares. Again ! What was it, Thomas ?"

"Nothing, Jane. It wasn't a dream. I just..."

Thomas was looking down. After that awful dream, and having to lie to her, how could he bring himself to look at her face ? He couldn't.

"Go back to sleep, Jane." He ordered. 

"You're worrying the hell out of me, Thomas !" She exclamated. "You need my help."

"Jane, you know i have night terror. It's just screams. Pointless. They don't mean anything. Please, Jane. I am ok."

"Fine. I'm going back to my room. Be sure you don't scare me again tonight, please."

Jane went back to her room, but Thomas was, in no way in hell, sleeping. Instead he quickly got himself dressed and went outside. He walked through the dense woods until reaching the calm river. The moon was full and shining brightly in the night sky. Fishes could be seen jumping around in the river. He sat down by the water, and bursted into tears.

"Jane..." He whimpered. "Can you ever forgive me, Jane ?"

Then, as he quickly got himself back on his feet, he saw a slender, white figure hovering the waters. It was a gardevoir. Not Jane, dough. He knew how to distinguish her from the rest. It was a wild pokemon, trying to atack him.

"You are feeling dizzy." The creature got near of him, as he remained in place. She was trying to enforce him to whatever reasons through the mind controlling abilities of her species. "You are just about to faint."

"Hehehehehe..." Thomas laughed, in a very, very low sound, that rapidly turned loud. "Hahahaha. Hahahaha ! HAHAHAHA !"

"What are you laughing about, human ?"

He then opened his eyes widely, looking at her with a pure sight of hatred and rage, that turned her into stone.

"H-How ?" She asked. "How are immune to me ?"

Thomas grabbed her neck, like a chicken about to have her head cut off, and revealed a evil, sadistic smile.

"Funny thing. Mind control." His voice sounded in her mind. "To think that you could turn any creature to a slave. What would you make them do ? Maybe do your chores for you ? Or perhaps please you sick, sadistic nature by forcing them to worship you. Unfortunately for you, cunt, i am beyond your reach. My mind is an unbreakable fortress."

"Impossible ! You are a human !"

"Hehe. Don't you ever dare to underestimate the human desire to torture its opponents. Listen now, parasite. There is this world. But you...you cannot enter my world. Cause if you do, i'll keep pushing your soul deeper and deeper to hell. A hell i create in my mind just for you. I can compress time so much that you would think you spent already an eternity in the dark void of my mind, only so i can tell you you've been in there for a few seconds. Don't ever atack my mind. In my mind, I...am..God !"

He let go of the scared, petrified pokemon.

"Get out of my sight." He commanded, walking away back to his home.

Thomas hated to pretend he was an evil soulless monster. But that was the only way to control minds. The only way to defend himself. "You had to do it, Thomas." He tought. "For your safety, you had to. Don't beat youself up."

Nothing left to do. He went to his room and tried to sleep. This time, he was awaken by feeling movement under the sheets.

"What the...Jane !?" He shouted, noticing that his friend just crawled in his bed.

"Hi there."

"Don't you 'Hi There' me. What the hell are you doing in here ?!"

"I couldn't sleep. You worry me, Thomas."

"For God's sake, Jane. I told you i'm fine."

"I don't believe it. You are a terrible liar. Besides, you might think its childish but...sometimes, i need someone next to me at night."

"Well, i...guess i can relate with the feeling. But you better stay on that side of the bed. Got it ?"

"Sure. You know i'm gonna do it, right ?"

"Do what ?"

"I'm gonna get that secret off you someday."

"Won't be today, pal. Won't be today."


	3. Fish and Apples

Thomas woke up calmy. Lucky him, we would only get one of those nightmares per night. Still, as he opened his eyes, he realised than, against what he clearly said to Jane the night before, she was extremely close to him. 

"Good morning, sunshine." The gardevoir greeted him with a smile, the moment she woke up.

"Jane, what did i tell you about your side of the bed ?"

"Sorry. I guess i just felt like using you as my teddy bear."

"You really piss me off sometimes, you know that ?"

"Don't be mad at me." Jane made the saddest looking, yet cute, face she could.

"Your attraction doesn't work on me, and you know it." Thomas got up.

"Worth the try. It's still early. Where are you going ?"

"To the river, catch a fish. Or should i say, breakfast."

"Can i sleep more ?"

"Fine. But go to your room."

"I don't want to."

"And i don't want to argue with you right now, so i'll let it slide." Thomas picked up his clothes from the pile he had at the corner of the room and left. Leaving Jane the perfect oppurtunity.

"Now it's my chance." She tought, getting of the bed. There was only one small piece of furniture in the room: a chest. A big chest where Thomas kept all his private stuff.

"Come on." She tough, searching the inside of the box. "Where is it...bingo !" She pulled out a small book. "This must be his dairy."

Jane sat on the bed and opened the little book.

 

"My nights have been terrible. And what's worse than that is knowing how scared Jane gets because of me. I wished it was as simple as stopping to yell every single night. I wished it was something i could just turn off like that. Not because of me. Because of her. It really gets to me how affraid she must be that something bad is happening to me. She wants to help me, but I don't think she can."

"Jane !" Thomas' voice shouted, making Jane drop the book on the ground before having a chance to flip the page. "What are you doing !?!"

"Thomas, I...I was being useful and cleaning your stuff, and i was checking if the book needed to..."

"Jane, don't lie to me."

"Don't YOU lie to me, Thomas."

"What are you talking about ?"

"I know it now. You are having nightmares at all time. It is not just waking up screaming for no reason !"

"That's not true !"

"Thomas, please...tell me what's going on." Thomas' look of anger suddenly went away when he saw tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "I can't see you like this."

"Jane, don't cry. Ok, it's true. I've been having nightmares."

"W-What are they about ?"

"You don't have to know. You don't want to know. All you have to know is that i've been having terrible dreams, and i didn't tell you because i didn't want you to worry. I don't know how to make them stop."

"But i do."

"No you don't."

"I can try."

"Well, how ?"

"Don't worry, Thomas. I'll help you. But first you have to go get that fish, because i'm starving."

'Ok. I'll be right back."

Thomas went out to the river, with his little fishing rod. Before even starting to fish, he could see into the clear, crystal like waters of the river that there were no fish."

"Fuck." He tought. "I could really use some meat for a change."

Disappointed, he checked the back of the house, where 2 beautiful trees stood. Apple trees.

"Guess apples will have to do. Again."

While picking up a fruit for himself and other for Jane, in the silence of the forest, Thomas could feel something. His mind was making a scan of the surrounding area. And he could feel the very souls of people approaching. There were humans approaching.

"Jane !" He called, entering the house and putting down the fruits, picking up his gun from near the door, where it stood at the moment.

"What's wrong ?" Jane came to the call of her trainer.

"Come. I'm feeling humans nearby."

With no further questions, the gardevoir went behind him as he followed trace of mental activity, like a sonar, while pointing his shotgun in his front. Since he didn't have a crew of pokemons for a while, his shotgun, Jane and his mental abilities were his only lifeline. The 2 of them stopped and covered behind a tree. The house was still close and chances were, anyone around could see it. He couldn't take any risks. So they remained silent, as the humans approached and the mental activity got higher, and higher. Then, in the other side of the  tree, where a dusty, dirt track was, 4 humans appeared from the deepest part of the forest. 3 males and a female. The 3 males pulled a big wooden cart, and the female, armed with a spear, kept an eye on the road. Thomas couldn't just let them pass. They could see the house and try to assault them.

"Freeze !!" He shouted, jumping into the road and pointing his gun to the female, who was the only one who could defend them against him. As she saw the shotgun in his hands, she dropped the spear and raised her hands in fear, like the remaining humans. Meanwhile, Jane was hovering behind Thomas, a few inches from the ground.

"Hey, easy there buddy." The tallest male, with blond hair tried to reason with him. "No one wants no trouble here."

"Who are you ? What are you doing here ?"

"We are just passing. Just passing by. Calm down, man. Let us go."

Thomas slowly lowered the gun, but did not let down his guard.

"What do you have with you ?"

"Tents, wood. A nice portion of fish. You can have some, if that's what it takes to pass."

"No. I'm not robbing you. We'll trade. Would you like some fruit ?"

"Well, we've only eaten fish for days now. Some sugar would be great."

"Well, terrific. Fish for fruit. Two apples, 1 fish. Deal ?"

"Hmm...ok, deal. Sure."

"Jane...pick up a basket from the kitchen and bring some apples from the tree, please."

Jane hovered away, while Tom remained in the same place. His gun was down,  but he kept the finger in the trigger, and with training, he could take a shoot at one in half a second.

"So...this wasn't a nice way to meet, you know." This time, the female spoke. "Let's try it again. I'm Kate. These are Ted, John and my boyfriend Will."

"I'm Longfield. Thomas Longfield."

"Hang on...THE Thomas Longfield ?!" John seemed to panic. "You're X !?"

"Oh my God. I knew he was familiar !" Ted said.

"Dude, we are HUGE fans !" Will added.

"Well, that's too bad." Thomas' expression got darker and serious. "I'm no longer X. Just Thomas now. I got out of the battle arena a long time ago."

"Wait. Was that your gardevoir ?"

"Yeah, the weird one." Ted asked. "I saw your battles. She was almost never in the battlefield. She was always next to you when you coordinated the battles."

"Yeah, i remember that." Kate pointed out. "You found her at fully grown stage, but never used her. Why was that ?"

Thomas wasn't giving any answer, because Jane just had arrived bringing the basket full of apples. And then John reached inside the cart to pick up the fish, in a wooden box full of salt to conserve it. Thomas left the basket, and Jane lifted the box with her powers, making it float arund her.

"Hey wait in there, mate." Thomas stopped, as Will called him. "We have been pushing this damn cart for hours now, and we are exhausted. Mind if we camp outside you little house over there ?" Will pointed to the house he could clearly see, making the correct assumption that it was in where that he lived. Surprisingly, Thomas showed a small smile.

"Sure." He said. "Just outside. No problem."

"Thomas..." Jane spoke to him, through telepathy, so the others could't hear her. "I don't like this."

"Relax, Jane. I got all these guys under control. Go home. I'll be right behind you in a minute."

Jane hovered away, leaving Thomas alone with the rest of the humans.

"Just a thing, though." Thomas warned. "You know when you spend a lot of time alone with only a few people, you worry about their well being, right ?"

"Of course." They all agreed.

"Well, if something bad happens to me, I'm not affraid to put a bullet in your heads.. And i can't find the words to describe what i'll do to you if something bad happens to her." Thomas quickly pointed his finger to the gardevoir, who distanced from them. "Understood ?"

"Yes..."

"Great ! Bring the cart, lads." Thomas turned, and walked away. "Turns out we'll be having fish and apples this morning."


	4. Those Who Lived In Both Worlds

It was only after sunset when the 4 human guests got their tents ready for the night. With absolutely no polution, the night sky was beautiful. 

 

"Thanks again for letting us stay, X." Will thanked, one more time.

"It's the end of the world. So i guess it's nice to have visits. And once again, my name is Thomas."

"Can i call you Tom ?"

"Sure."

"Hey, guys." John called to every one around, when he finished the fireplace right outside the house. "Nothin' like a big fire under the moonlight, isn't that right ? Come on. Y'all gather around."

 

The human guests sat around the fire, as Thomas opened the door to enter his house.

 

"Hey, where are you going, Tom ?" Kate asked, making Thomas stop right before entering through the door.

"Inside. Leaving you alone."

"Don't do that, man !" Ted begged. "Sit down with us ! We are gonna have some fun. You know, talk a little and tell stories around the fire, like kids."

"Well...ok, then. Give me just a minute."

 

 Thomas went inside and got to Jane's room, just beside his. She was lying on the bed, reading a book.

 

"Jane, you better go to...Hey, is that one of my books ?"

"Yeah. I wanted to know what you read. This is complete nonsense."

"Nonsense ?!" Thomas angrily grabbed his book from her hands. "This is 'I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream', by Harlan Ellinson, one of the best, if not the best sci-fi authors ever ! And this book is the perfect example to describe the paradox of our own existence, and the eternal fight of man versus machine."

"If you ask me, that is what gives you nightmares. Have you seen all this murder, and depression in this book ? It creeps me out."

"Takes stomach. And you better go to sleep, because tomorrow we are going to the ruins."

"I'm gonna wait for you to go to sleep. I don't want you just to wake me up."

"What are you talking about ?"

"What do you think i'm talking about, silly ? I'm sleeping with you."

"Oh, no ! Don't even think about it."

"You can't stop me, Thomas. I bet you'll be sleeping like a baby with me."

"If i come back and you're in my bed, you will regret it. And also, if you don't like it, keep your hands off my readings." Thomas took the boom back to his room, and then went back outside, where he sat down just next to his guests.

 

"So, Thomas..." Will questioned. "Don't you wanna know where we are heading ?"

"You're heading North, to leave Kantos region."

"How the hell do you know that ?"

"I tought you were huge fans of mine. I read minds, you know that ?"

"Oh, yeah..." Kate laughed. "I forgot we have the tought reader here."

"Read toughts ? That's such a basic way of speaking."

"Hey, now that we have time here, can you explain that to us ?" Ted seemed to show great interest for Thomas' abilities. "How exactly do you read toughts ?"

"The mind. The human mind. Capable of storing up to 60 petabytes of information. More powerful than any super computer known to man. Yet, if i am enraged, if i am willing enough, i can break that magnificent piece of evolutionary machinery and turn whoever i want to a mindless drone, whose only goal is to serve me or my objectives. That is because i have the gene. I'm, in fact, the first reported case of this anomaly in humans. They named this mutation after me. The Longfield Gene. It allows me to access an extra sense. A superior way of communication."

 

"I'm sorry, but we don't understand."

 

"The Universe. Everything there is, there was and there will be can be broken into numbers. That is what i do. I read the impulses of each mind that comes close enough. I break it into numbers, then steal the info, then i read the info."

 

"That's gotta be pretty awesome !" John exclamated.

 

"It's both a blessing and a curse. Sure i can do whatever i want, to whoever i want, whenever i want. But most times, there are things i don't want in that process. I know everything. Not just toughts. Memories. Hopes. Fears. Desires. I know just how intelligent you are. I know just how curious you are. I know just how happy you are. I know just how perverted you are. In fact...i know you all better than you know yourselves." 

 

"Sorry, my friend, but that sounds like a giant load of crap." Kate disagrees with Thomas.

 

"You are all from this region, Kantos. You've all been friend since you met, in 3rd grade, exactly 15 years ago. Kate and Will got together after Kate broke up with Brock, her previous abusive boyfriend, in High School. Ted and John have been like brothers since then. Kate wanted to work as a psychiatrist , but her studies were interrupted by the war. Will wanted to be a trainer, and i was his personal inspiration since i was diagnosed with the Longfield gene and started collecting pokemons at age of 13. Ted and John wanted to started a bussiness together and profit from commerce between regions. Once again, the war interrupted their classes. So tell me, people. Do you believe me now, or do I have to dig further into your shameful secrets ?"

 

"Ok, you win !" Kate gave up. "We believe you. That just sounds so freaking awesome to be true."

 

"It's not that awesome...i never got to make much friends. If I already know all there is to know about someone, what is the point of being her friend and trying to know them ? That's why i've never read the mind of the only friend i have left, and i'm not touching anymore of your memories. At least for now."

 

"Whoa. That's gotta be somewhat depressive, right ?" John wondered. "I mean, you probably have a lot of toughts about life and such. You know, hardcore philosofy and shit."

 

"Not really. I've lived with this all my life. Not something i'm not used to. However, i do wonder about life. And i do it a lot more often now, after all that has happenned."

 

"Hey, i know this is a lot to ask, but..." Ted hesitated for a couple of seconds. "Could you teach us something ? One of your toughts about life ?"

 

"I could. The question is, do you really want to know ?"

 

"Of course we do. Right, guys ?"

 

"Definately !" Will agreed. "I would just love to have my mind blown up right now."

 

"Ok, then. One of my toughts...Tell me, what do you expect to do ? Help rebuilding the world ?"

 

"Yeah." John answered. "Will and Kate are planning kids. Right ?"

 

"That's just a tought, John." Kate assured. "We are not deciding now."

 

"Well, let me help you making up your mind, Kate." Thomas continued. "Will you teach this hypothetical kid of yours about the Old world ? Before the war ?"

 

"Well, yes."

 

"Why ?"

 

"Because we want future generations to understand how we lived."

 

"How we lived ? You want them to understand how we lived ? I'm sorry, Jane, that is foolish. You are bringing to the world a person that will live all of his life without having experienced how life was before. We are the last ones with memories of the old world. The last generation that will know."

 

"I don't understand."

 

"We are a couple of years away from having the manpower needed to agriculture, Jane. Your child will live his life only scavenging for food. If he gets hungry and needs food in order not to die, he will even eat a rat. Long ago, a rat would be a disgusting creature. We could have had a hot pizza rushed to us on demand, or we could have gone to the market buy food to last for months, stored in refrigerators, to be eaten at our convinience. How will you explain a child who scavenged for food his whole life that once there was such a problem as obesity ? I can go deeper into that. You will wander through the world, and come across the massive ruins of cities. And you will barely be able to convince them such places were built by simples human beings, and not by the gods themselves. How will explain to people who grew up in huts, even smaller than this humble house of mine, that we once touched the very skies above us with buildings that challenged the laws of nature itself ? They will walk miles and miles to reach other places, while long ago they could travel the same distance under an hour, in their personal cars, while listening to music. How will you explain to entire generations who will never move faster than their legs can carry them the anger, the frustration of loosing a few seconds of their time in the traffic ? How will you explain to an entire civilization that washed itself in rivers and oceans, that once people took hot showers every single day, with soaps smelling like field of flowers ?"

 

"Yeah, but...we can make it work, right ? We can build society back."

 

"We can, but it will take time. Only years and decades, and maybe centuries later will we know once again. Until then, we will not. If kids come to the world now, they will express themselves, exclamating about how happy and perfect our lifes must have been. And then you will have to explain to them that we were not happy. 'But how can that be ?' they asked. Because just as you become used to the bad, you become used to the good, and no longer recognize it. This world is all they'll ever know...They won't notice life is hard now. The same way, people didn't know their lifes were easy. Only we, those who lived in both worlds, can truly understand. And even us will wonder about what we had, and about what we lost. How could people with so few problems like us be so sad and angry ? Because our problems were so fucking trivial, our goals so centered in owning more of everything, that we got...bored. There was no danger, and thanks to our evolution, we were meant to think we were in constant danger. So we made danger up. Not virtuals worlds we could safely explore. I'm talking about how we used to turn against one another, because our lifes were too perfect for us. Male versus female. Black versus white. Religious versus religious versus non religious. We were all fighting each other. All the time ! Not discussing who was right or wrong. Just fighting. We were so obcessed with being right that we forgot the truth. We were wrong. We were divided. Instead of appreciating our differences, we were too blind to realise not only how unique our lives were, but how hateful we were against one another. United we stand. And divided....we fall. We all heard that when we were kids. But since we barely tried to remain united, i actually wonder if we wanted to fall. But why !? Why would we want to fall, unless we didn't even know what falling meant ? Did we not notice how high we had climbed ? No...i don't think we did realise. The world was our mirror...and we were too arrongant to take the responsibility for our actions. We did not value what we should. We considered worthless what was most precious in the world. Love. Friendship. Knowledge. Understanding. Freedoom. All things we took for granted. And look at us now...The worse thing, even worse than knowing what we had and lost, is knowing we didn't appreciate what we had, until it was lost."

 

The guests were in complete silence, gasping at the mind blowing speach Thomas gave. The only sound was the now dying fire.

 

"And that brings us to the lesson you will hopefully learn." He concluded. "Not to take those things for granted anymore. And not to turn our backs against each other anymore. We must value each other now that we are rare. We have the duty, the obligation of seeing the value on everyone, because only we know what was lost. That's why i let you all stay. Human life is just too rare now. I cannot take the risk of loosing anyone else. I cannot afford to lose anyone else. We are all that's left of Humanity. Think about that."

 

"Man..." Will exclamated. "You really did blow my mind away, Tom."

"Yeah." John agreed. "I knew we had to stop hating one another now more than ever, but i never expected anyone to go so deep into that."

"Glad i could be helpful." Thomas got up. "You have a good night. In the morning, we are going out."

"To where ?" They all questioned.

"To the ruins."

 

Thomas entered the house. It was getting late. He needed some sleep. Not to his suprise, there was a lump of the same size and shape as a body in his bed.

 

"Jane, please. I need to sleep." Thomas was clearly upset.

"Well, then. Get to sleep."

"Why do you have to be in here ?"

"I just wanted to make you company."

"Is there anyway i can convince you getting out ?"

"No."

"Ugh ! Fine." Thomas facepalmed, and then laid down, closing his eyes, as he felt Jane's arm hugging him.

 

"Sweet dreams, Tommy." She giggled.

"Just another night, Thomas. "He tought to himself, preparing for the horrific nightmares awaiting him. "Just another night..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is inspired in one of Youtube's most brilliant masterpieces, "Disgruntled Royalty", from the original mini series "Power Corrupts" by Darkmatter2525.


	5. Human needs

As the green area was ending, Thomas and the other humans stepped into the ancient, dusty main road to the city. The sign that said "Welcome to Viridian City" had several burning marks. Of course. HellFire came here...

Thomas brought his double barreled shotgun and some ammo, along with a small pocket knife, while the rest was armed with a few short axes and primitive spears. Bringing the cart would be a foolish effort, so they brought backpacks to carry their loot.

"The eternally green paradise." John Said, looking at the destroyed buildings up ahead. "Look how that turned out."

"If it makes you feel better, i always saw that slogan as a big load of shit." Will replied.

"Are you sure the house is safe without us, Tom ?" Kate asked, worried.

"Sure. Jane is there."

"One pokemon is gonna fight off any invader ?" Ted wondered.

"There is something you should know about Jane, Ted. I worked hard to use my powers to enhance her abilities. Any pokemon that comes near one of us has its mind broken completely and used as a puppet to fight the remaining foes."

"That's sounds like a damn fine bussiness model." John agreed. "But we gotta focus now. Let's go over what we need again."

"Ok." Kate reminded. "I will check the hospital for basic medicines, and the 4 of you will go to the market get as much food and water as you can carry."

The 5 of them walked down the road, soon reaching the frontiers of the city. There was no more fire, after being a chaotic hell of fire and destruction. Now, it was just an enourmous pile of iron, wood and black smoke. So it still looked like hell. Kate split from the rest of the group, and headed to the hospital.

Ignoring the horrific landscape, the humans went to the market. It was an average sized building. The inside was not that much danified, except for the fire marks.

"Well, i'll be damned." John said, while loading his backpack with canned food from the shelves, which was the only thing that was not expired. "Hope y'all like meatloaf from a can."

"It's the apocalypse." Thomas grabbed all the bottled water he could. "Meatloaf is nice."

"Hey, Tom, you think you can find us some guns like the one you got ?" Ted questioned.

"Well, yeah, but only if you feel like going to a city with a black market. I got this before the war. Now, you only get one by looting some place a street gang used to be based in. Besides, someome probably got all there was left by now."

"That's why i hate the demand and offer law." Will nodded, searching for anything useful inside the market.

As Thomas loaded his backpack with as much ater as it could hold, he noticed Ted was loading his pack with somethings from behind the balcony.

"Hey, Ted." He called, reaching closer to him. "What do you have in there ?"

"Oh, just some personal interest stuff."

"Well, load your ass with useful stuff." John ordered." I ain't planning in coming back to this shithole any time soon."

"Relax. I have plenty of room le...Ahh !"

Ted dropped the bag on the ground, and everyone could see what was inside. Magazines. A lot of...magazines. Adult magazines.

"Dear God !" Will picked up one of them. "Ted, what the hell ?!"

"Is this all porn ?" John picked up the whole bag, and looked at every magazine. "Porn. Porn. Porn. What's this ? 'The amazing adventures of Rex, the Charizard'. OH, SHIT ! That is some hardcore porn !"

"So many of these girls are asian." Thomas widely opened his eyes, staring at the magazine is Will's hands. "And...pregnant..."

"Fuck, this one is about pokemons. Ted, what the fuck is all of this for ?!"

"For...personal interests ?" He blushed and grabbed all the porn from their hands.

"Dude, it's impossible you can jerk off to all of this." Will assured. "Impossible."

"I'm sorry, ok !? I'm a human ! I have needs !"

"I never touched these in my life and i don't need any." Will argued. "But then again, i have a girlfriend."

"I'm OK with human/pokemon relationships..." Thomas was still in shock. "But that's just crossing the lines."

"Give me a break, ok ?" Ted shoved all his...readings in the bag. "I have a lot of free time since the world ended, and nothing to fill it with."

"Yeah, you gotta leave some of that stuff behind, buddy !" John exclamated. "It's not about space or weight. But you are reaching a high level of addiction."

"I should know this would happen." Thomas finally recovered from the shock of looking to those things.

"Why is that ?"

"Well, i did take a small look into your personalities, and noticed that Ted has quite a big history on...how to say this ? Using the hose without there being a fire."

"Oh, yeah. Really mature, Tom. You had to say that in public ?!"

"Look, Ted. If you're going to bring these with you fine. Just make sure you...clean afterwards. And carry some useful items as well."

"Hey since pervert here is getting this shit." Will got behind the balcony and got out 3 or 4 bottles of wine. "We need some fun as well, right ?"

"Oh, the booze. I almost forgot about it..." John laughed. "Who am I kidding !? No one forgets the booze !"

"Well, let's get going, shall we ? Kate's probably already waiting for us in that road we came from."

"OK, let's get moving."

-Many hours later.....-

"Jane...you have got to be kidding me." Thomas sighed.

"Come on." She said, laying just right next to him in the bed. "I told you i would help."

Jane promissed Thomas she would help him getting rid of his nightmares without he even telling her what they were about. She assumed it was a result of his accumulating stress. It's true that since they started living in the forest that he had been through some serious stressful period. And Jane remembered that humans can calm down by stroking pets. And since Thomas did not have any pets, she tought herself was the next best thing.

"Look, Jane. I'm not a 60 years old woman." He Sighed, again. "This is not going to relax me."

"Yes it is. Just try it, ok ? I'm trying to help you."

"ok, fine. But this...is extremely akward."

He placed his hand in her head and gently stroked her hair in the same direction and pattern. 

"How long do i have to do this ?"

"For a few hours, every day, for the rest of your life."

"Haha. So funny." He said, sarcastically.

"No. I'm serious."

"Ok, forget it." He stopped. "This is not helping. In fact, the akwardness of this is stressing me out even more."

"That's because you're too stubborn."

"How does that have anytning to do with this !?"

"It is helping you. You just don't like being helped. Unfortunately, no matter wether you like it or not, you need help."

"This isn't helping ! YOU are not helping !" By that point, Thomas was near loosing his mind.

"Fine !" Jane yelled back, and turned around. "I'll just go to sleep early. Sorry if i was so useless."

"Jane..." Thomas immediately calmed down when he saw how upset she was. "...i'm sorry."

But she wasn't answering. "Dammit, Thomas !" He tought. "You screwed it. Again. Why do you always do this ? Why do you keep fucking everything !?"

Thomas just lied there. Jane was still right next to him. She was mad at him, and wanted to stay to show him just how much. 

Maybe she was right. Maybe he really needed help. Maybe he really needed something to calm his nerves. He focused so much on staying alive and keeping himself and Jane safe that he forgot he is a human. He has needs. Otherwise, he will just go crazy.

"Jane." He called out once again.

"Not talking to you." She answered. At least she was saying something.

"Look, i'm sorry i yelled at you. You're right. I went through a lot of stressing situations and i guess they just got the best of me."

Jane turned, facing him.

"Sometimes, you can be a real jerk."

"Yeah. I know...Sorry i was born a human."

"What are you talking about ?"

"I'm talking about the fact being a human sucks. We are never sure about what to do about anything. I wish i could do it as simply as a pokemon. Just know exactly how to behave and what to do. But i don't ! I'm a human. And...it just sucks."

"You think we always know what to do ?"

"No. But at least better than we you must know."

"Thomas, i'm sorry. I didn't want you to feel badly. And besides, you can't be so hard on yourself."

"Really ? Why not ?"

"You built this place in the middle of the forest. You always took care of me. And you helped 4 people you barely know when focusing on yourself would be what anyone else would do. So maybe you do know exactly what to do."

"Well, i do my best. I already have too much to worry about. I couldn't live knowing that i let something bad happen to us. You know i really care about you."

"And you know..." Jane stopped, and approached Thomas' face, kissing him gently on the forehead. "...i care a lot about you too."

"Yeah. I know that." He smiled shortly, and then closed his eyes. "Good night, Jane."

"I love you so much." Jane tought, falling asleep with her arms around him.


	6. Pain

When Thomas woke up, he found himself almost unable to move his arms, because of how tighly Jane was hugging him.

"Come on, now." He said softly, poking her head. "Time to get up."

"Gar...." She moaned in her native language. Thankfully, she did not know how irresistably adorable Thomas found that to be. "Thomas, please. I'm tired."

"Tired ? We slept 8 hours. How are you tired ?"

"I'm not you. I need more sleep."

"No. You want more sleep."

"Fine. I WANT more sleep. And i will have more sleep. Don't try to stop me."

"Don't tell me what to do." Thomas left her alone in the room.

 It wasn't that much of a busy day. Nothing specific to do. In fact, the only thing out of the ordinary was the fact John and Ted were drinking wine. And it was 7 A.M.

"Drunk ? Already ?" Thomas sighed.

"Not drunk. Happy." Ted disagreed, waving the wine bottle.

"You are drinking directly from the bottle..."

 "So what ? Free world." John took a swig from the bottle. "You know, my daddy was portuguese. He told me about how the legal age to drink back at his home was 16, but everyone began to drink at 12 years old because no one really gave a shit."

"Which is awesome." Ted added.

"Yeah, sure. But if you're drinking, try not to vomit."

"Got it." Ted nodded. "Swallow and keep it down."

"Yeah, that's what i told your mom last night." John laughed lodly.

"You son of a bitch."

"Hey, Tom." John turned his attention to Thomas. "Can you explain something me and Ted here were wondering ?"

 "What is it ?"

"When we went to Viridian City yesterday. Everything had burning marks on it. Why ?"

Thomas opened his eyes wider.

"Well." Thomas took a deep breath. "That was his move..."

 "Who's 'he' ?"

"HellFire. That's why he was nicknamed like that. He had a...thing with fire. His way of destroying things was with fire. Anything that could possibly cause something to burn. He would use it. In fact, no a lot was known about him, but people know his sentence. 'Sometimes, mankind only exists to see the world on fire.' "

 "Whoa...that's deep. Tom, you seem to be sad. What's wrong ?"

"I...I don't like thinking about him."

"Oh, sorry, Thomas. Didn't realise you were...." 

"NO !" A female screaming voice was heard from the distance. "Get off me !"

"Are you hearing this ?" John looked into the forest. "It came from over there."

"Oh my God."  Ted gasped. "That sounded like Kate !"

"A pokemon must be atacking her." Thomas quickly turned and opened the front door, picking up the shotgun he kept nearby. "Let's go !"

The 3 of them ran into the forest, following the screams for help of their friend. Then, between the trees of the dense forest, there was Kate. But it wasn't no pokemon. It was... 

"Will ?!" John shouted in surprise, making Will release Kate's arms and giving her a chance to escape. "Dude, what the hell is going on here !?"

"You keep out of this !" He shouted, catching them off guard and punching John right in the face, making him fall down. Before he had the chance to atack the others, Thomas fired the shotgun to the air, right next to Will's ears, making him extremely confused for a second. Then, he swinged the firearm and hit Will right in the face with the back of the shotgun, instantly knocking him out.

 "John !" Ted helped his friend getting back up. "Are you Ok ?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Thanks."

"What happenned here ?" Thomas questioned Kate.

"I....I don't know. I woke up, and he put his hand in my mouth and dragged me here, and tried to atack me !"

"Why would Will do that to you ?"

"Wait a second." Thomas took a look at Will, while ha laid knocked out on the ground. "I'm using my abilities to read his mind. I'm accessing his physical condition by reading his mind...the amount of adrenaline is not normal. The sugar levels are too high. Oh, for God's sake..."

Thomas got back on his feet, and looked angrily at Will.

"...he's completely drunk !"

"That can't be !" John exclamated. "All the bottles we got are in my tent. They're untouched." 

"Son of a bitch..." Ted theorized. "He must have sneaked some more when we weren't looking." 

"Why would Will do such a thing ?" Kate seemed extremely upset with the situation.

 "Well, when the world ends, i guess some of us just try to drink 'till we forget how much it sucks." John philosophized.

 "Come on." Thomas grabbed Will by his arms. "Help me getting him back to the house." The others grabbed his legs and took Will's unconscious body back to the camp outside the house.

 "Just leave him here." They all put him down in the soft grass right outside the front door.

"Keep an eye on him." Thomas ordered. "I'll go get a bottle of water. If we spill in his face, it might help getting him sober again."

 

Getting back inside, Thomas saw Jane, who was just reaching for the door when he opened it.

 

"I heard screamings." She said. "What's going on ?"

 "It's Will." Thomas responded, grabbing the water from the kitchen's table. "He's drunk and atacked Kate. Who knows what would have happened if we didn't show up."

 

Then, screams were heard again from outside. It was Will, shouting angrily. Thomas picked up his shotgun again, slammed the door open and pointed the gun right at Will, who somehow had picked up one of the small pocket knives they had as weapons. Looking at the shotgun, Will freezed, giving a chance to the other humans to move away. Still, he did not let go of the knife, and looked madly and Thomas, while he hided Jane behing her back and prepared to pull the trigger any second.

 

"What's going on with you, Will ?" He asked.

 

"What's going on with me ?!" He repeated, lodly. "What's going on with you, pointing a shotgun at my fucking face ?!"

 

"Will, you tried to atack your girlfriend. Then, you tried to atack your friends with an knife. So you clearly have something on your mind."

 

"Why do you give a shit ?"

 

"Dammit, Will ! Just put the knife down. Let's talk like adults here."

 

"Don't tell me what to do !"

 

"That's it."

 

In a second, Thomas completely changed his expression, looking deep into Will's eyes with a horrific face that made his soul burn inside him. In an instant, he completely took control of his mind. And body. Will dropped the knife, and Thomas let go of his mind, making him fall down from fear and lost of power over his muscles.

 

"Ah, damn it..." Will gasped from the pain of having his body functions stopping and restarting like that.

 

"Why did you make me do this, Will ?" Thomas still looked angrily at Will, while Kate, Ted and John looked horrified, and Jane took another step back.

 With his last strength, Will got up as fast as he could , in an attempt to catch Thomas off guard. A worthless effort, since Thomas punched him to the ground again.

 

"Get away from me. All of you !" Will shouted.

 

"Will, what's going on with you !?" John exclamated. "This is crazy."

 

"Shut up, John ! You all shut up !"

 

"Will, i need you to calm down." Thomas tried to reason with a calm voice.

 

"Bite me, Thomas !"

 

"Will, this isn't you ! Why are you doing this ? Why did you try to hurt your girlfriend, your friends ?"

"That's none of you fucking bussiness ! Why do you care about what I do to them !?"

 "Why !? Because, you stupid piece of shit, i can't let you hurt them ! I can't let you make the same mistake i did !"

 The surroundings went completely silent. Everyone was quiet. The only one to open her eyes widely and gasp was Jane. Thomas never told anyone else about his...mistake.

 Then, using the only chance he had, Will ran away, in the direction of the city.

 "I'm going after him." Thomas announced.

 "I'm going with you." Ted followed Thomas.

 "No. You need to stay here. He might come back and try to get you again. You need to be prepared...i'll go alone." 

"Tom, you can't." John warned. "Will's blacking out drunk. Who knows what he can do."

"I know, John. Unless you haven't noticed, i know just how far he is willing to go."

 

Thomas took off alone into the forest. While he walked into the dense vegatation, he scanned the area in search for traces of Will's mental acitivity.  He had to keep up with him.

 

Meanwhile, Jane closed the door without giving the humans a chance of explanation. "The same mistake i did." She tought. Could it be ? Could he be talking about...

But why would he be telling that to Will. Or anyone ? Why would he even be risking himself to go after Will ? Maybe because Thomas who once was in Will's side...

Jane's mind was divided. On one hand, there was the fact Thomas said he would follow him alone. On the other hand, there was the caring, loving gardevoir nature that demanded her to go with him. Yet, she stayed.

If he was going to mention the mistake again, Jane could not be there. Thomas needed to talk to him. Alone.

 Maybe finally telling someone would ease the pain in both of them.


	7. Forgiven

Thomas found himself once again in the hell like ruins of what used to be Viridian City. The trace of mental activity was high. Will was nearby. Thomas wandered through the buildings, as the activity grew higher and higher, indicating his aproach towards Will. Then, he stopped, staring at an old, destroyed, but still standing building in front of him. The cross shaped stone over the doble doors said it was clearly a church. The activity in that building was too high. Either Will was in there, or someone else was. And there was no one less nearby...

Thomas pushed open one of the doors, making possible for the bright sunlight to enter the inside of the church. The inside was not that much danified. But the burning marks were all over the place, and most of the wooden benches were nearly reduced to ashes. The soft, long red rug that lead from the front door to the altar was now not actually red, but gray and lifeless from all the dust, only with a few spots of its original colour. The altar itself was damaged. Nothing stood in it at all, except for the small statue of jesus christ at the corner.

On a bench near the altar, a human figure was sitting. Will.

"I did not expect you to come here." Thomas said, aproaching the bench and sitting down at Will's side, but still looking forward, instead of towards him.

"How did you find me ?" He questioned.

"I followed your mental activity. Why are you here, Will ?"

"I don't know. I always came here to think. Look at this place...Y'know, i was never that much into religion but i was always affraid of what my parents used to tell me about God and how he would judge me right after i died. What about you, Thomas ? Do you fear God ?"

"Fear God ? That's an odd question. I was never a believer, but if i was, i would like to see God as...more of a teacher. A provider of knowledge and understanding. Makes sense it scares you. It is just human to fear what we don't know. But...don't fear God, Will. Most of the times, mortals represent a bigger danger to us."

"Yeah. I guess."

"So, Will. Is there anything you want to say ?"

"Yes. Sorry i...you know, freaked out. I was wasted and it was just a dumb thing to do."

"I get that. That's not why i'm here."

"Then why are you here ?"

"Because i must know why. I know you brought more wine than we agreed to, and drank it all yourself. But why ?"

"Because...it sucks, ok ? Everything sucks ! I lost everything in the war. My parents. Friends. My stuff. My life. It was all taken away from me."

"We all lost people, Will. And you were the only one to do that."

"Yeah, but i'm weak, ok ? I admit it. I'm weak. I can't handle shit. I just sink into depression. So i drink in order not to. Wait a minute...you said we all lost people."

"So ?"

"You're an orphan. You said it yourself that you never had any close friends beside Jane, and she is fine. So who did you lose ?"

"I...lied. I did have a friend. In fact...he was my brother."

"Shit...you had a brother ?"

"Yes. He died in the war too. I couldn't save him. So i really don't enjoy reminding it."

"It really sucks when you realise you can't save everyone, doesn't it ?"

"Indeed it does. I'll be honest. If i didn't understand your point of view, i would have shot you back there."

"You do understand ? How come ?"

"Because i was once like you, Will. I also went through my own period of weakness. Just like you, it was all about alcohol."

"Oh yeah ?"

"Yes. You probably heard on the news that me, the beloved 'X', was arrested for pokemon traffic. I...sold pokemons to very cruel ends. Research, mainly. I'm pretty sure some died, or became genetic abominations because of me."

"That's what got you into drinking ?"

"No. What the media did not say about me was why i quit the Pokemon League. My...powers had developed beyond my own capability to control them. I started feeling the same as the pokemons near me. Only pokemons and not humans, for some reason. And it was terrible. I felt sad without having any reason to be sad, no matter how happy i tried to be. I shared the emotions of the pokemons i sold. It was like the universe getting back at me for what i did. That is what got me into drinking."

"But...why are you telling me this ?"

"Because, Will, you are going through the exact same situation i was. Except you still have a chance to change it. And not end up like me..."

"What do you mean ? You're fine."

"No, Will. I am not fine. And i didn't make anyone else fine. All because i was too weak to quit the alcohol and actually face my problems like a man. And the people i cared about ended up paying."

"Thomas...what is on your mind ?"

"I...i didn't want to do it either, Will ! I didn't want to hurt her ! I was drunk, just like you !"

"Dude, it's just a little alcohol. It can't hurt anyone."

"That's where you're wrong, Will ! I ended up hurting people because of it. It was...my fault. Will, you have to understand that once you get drunk out of your control, you become an animal ! Instincts take over. You forget about the people you care about, and about the fact you don't want to hurt them. And that ended badly for me, and so will for you."

"How badly can it end ?"

"How badly ? I'll tell you how badly. One night, i was coming back home...drunk as shit. My brother wasn't home. All my pokemoms were gone by that time. Only Jane was home. I was completely wasted. I could barely stand up. And once i saw her, with that smile staring at me like she always does, i..i just lost it. I..."

"Tom ?" Will noticed the horrific look on Thomas' face. He was reliving through it. And then it hit will.

"Thomas. D-did you....?" Will gasped.

"Yes." Thomas sighed. "I did. And i hated myself after. Still do. After that, i could always...fell her depression. I knew Jane for years. And i managed to ruin it. What really makes me think about it is the fact that it hurted me just as it hurted her. I could always hear her crying until falling asleep. I could always feel how scared she was of even looking at me. I...I even tought about shooting myself in the head a couple of times."

"But you didn't."

"No i did not. Because i knew that i could shoot myself and end it all, or i could fix it. And i guess i just like to fix broken things. When the war came, i had a chance to spend a lot of time alone with Jane. I slowly regained her trust. Funny thing is i don't trust myself. I still dream about it... Difference is, i'm the victim in my dreams."

"W-what ? Why ? That makes no sense."

"It makes sense. I might have convinced Jane i'm not the same monster i was in that one night. But i didn't convince myself. I still get up in the morning and look at the mirror, and i see the same drunk pathetic excuse of a human i was. In my mind, i still didn't pay my debt. And probably never will. We never really pay our debts. Do we, Will ?"

The two of them sat there, silently. Will had his eyes open widely, while Thomas stared at the ground with his expressionless look.

"I hope you know now, Will." Thomas concluded. "You can't be irresponsible just because the world ended. You can't hurt the people you care about. Please, Will...don't make the same mistake i did."

"I..." Will stopped, thought for a second. He had 3 people left to care about. Now 4, with Thomas. And Thomas was right. What he had could not be lost. Otherwise, it wouldn't be worth to live anymore. "I won't. I promise."

"I'll leave you alone for a moment." Thomas hot up and walked away. "You need a moment to reflect. I know i did."

Thomas closed the church's door, and followed the dusty road until reaching the forest, reaching back through the dense vegetation until the wooden house, with the camping outside. Getting back, he was approached immediately by Kate and John.

"So ?" John asked, impatiently.

"He'll be fine." Thomas kept his eyes on the ground in front of him, with his head down.

"What did you say to him ?" Kate questioned.

"What matters is that he will be fine."

"But how did you do it ? What did you say ?"

"The only thing that matters is..." Thomas opened his door. "He will be fine." Then slammed the door shut. He got to his room, and sat in his bed, then buried his head in his hands.

"Thomas ?" A familiar sounding voice sounded in his head. Jane was standing by the room's door. Judging by her looks, she was worried. Sad. Thomas did not respond, and kept looking down.

"Do you need to talk about it ?" Jane sat by his side. "You can talk to me about it." Still. No response. Thomas was lost in his toughts.

"I can't see you like this anymore, Thomas." She turned his face to her with her hand, looking at his emotionless, expressionless, soulless, spiritless face. "Tell me what's wrong. Please."

"I can' tell you, Jane." Thomas finally reacted. "I just can't."

"They're about it, aren't they ?"

"What ?"

"Your dreams. Are they about it ?"

"I...Yes. They are. All i've tought about in my dreams was that."

"Thomas, no." Jane friendly put her hand on his shoulder, and got closer to him. "You can't think about it anymore. It's over now."

"It isn't, Jane. I just...can't bring myself to let go." A tear formed in the corner of his eye. "I can't stop thinking about how much i hurted you. I don't even know if i've changed. I don't know if i'm a different person now, or not."

"Don't say that."

"What makes you think i changed ?"

"You didn't change, Thomas." That sentence made Thomas' eyes open widely, as he awaited for her to say deep down she still hated him. But no.

"You never had to change." Jane smiled and hugged him. "I just tought you already knew that."

"C-can i ask you something, Jane ?"

"What is it ?"

"Why did you stay with me ? When the war came, you could have gone away. Back to the wild. Lived your life away from me. So why did you stay ?"

"Because...i can no longer imagine life without you." She giggled. "And neither can you."

"No. I can't. And i don't want to. Even though i still didn't let it go."

"That's odd. Because i did. That thing that hurted me wasn't you. It wasn't the real you. I know you."

Thomas was feeling less heavy. Since the war started that this was never mentioned again. He was at ease now. If the nightmares would stop ? Maybe yes. Maybe no. When you know someone for as long as the two of them have, you realise that people will make mistakes. Hurt each other. But that's natural. After all, making mistakes is what makes us human. It's what made Thomas human.

Jane took advantage of the moment to push him towards her, and then kissed him passionately.

"I love you, Thomas." She gently whispered to his ear, which made him suprised. Pleasantly surprised.

"I...I Love you too, Jane."


	8. Not a busy day

"Ok." John said, lighting up the cigar in the corner of his mouth. "Let's just go over this again."

Not that much of a busy day. Nothing specific to do. Only to sit and talk outside the house, just by the camping. This time, Will and Kate went for a walk around the woods, which meant Thomas, Ted and John were alone. And the two of them couldn't believe Thomas.

"So you tellin' me..." John restarted. "...Jane told ya' she loved you, and you said it too."

"Well, yes." Thomas agreed.

"And you kissed, then slept on the same god damn bed..."

"That is correct."

"...and that was it !?!"

"Yes. That was it. Where are you getting at ?"

"Dude, that's messed up." Ted exclamated. "I mean, what are you, dating now ?"

"I guess so. And why am i even talking to you about this ?"

"Because..." John stopped and took a deep breath of the cigar. "...we are the bros ! You can take a freakin' phisolofy class at university or whatever, and that counts for jack shit. The bros are the world's philosofy. We discuss the shit that matters in life. And this, my friend, is shit that matters."

"John' right, Tom." Ted said. "You need to talk to someone about this. And we are, like, the only people in miles."

"I don't understand what the big deal is."

"What the big deal is !?" John shouted. "You have any idea how lucky you are ? This is love, man ! I got no one to love. And no one to bang ! Lucky bastards, you and Will. So, just to be sure you don't fuck up, we'll help."

"I don't require your help. I'm fine. I have this all under control."

"Right. Just like Ted here has his porn addiction over control."

"John !" Ted punched his shoulder.

"I'm just sayin'...look, Tom. Jokes aside, this actually is a serious matter. But, hey, we're happy for you. Right, Ted ? Thomas won't die alone. That's the dream, people. That's the dream."

"Yeah. Score. Right, Tom ?"

"Score ?" Thomas questioned. "What do you mean, score ?"

"You know, the world kind of ended. We don't get much chances to have fun. So it's nice to have a release."

"Yeah." John continued. "But, there's a even better thing. Y'see, it't the apocalypse so, no pressure to get married. But getting back to topic. Thomas, can i ask you something ?"

"What ?"

"Well, are you...and don't take this the wrong way ! I mean, we just talkin' here. But...are you...you know...virgin ?"

"No."

"Great. Great. Well, actually, not great. Because...Ted, give me a help here."

"I think what John's trying to say is that you are...pretty much a monk."

"A monk ? Why ? What are you two talking about ?"

"Dude !" John exclamated. "You two. The same bed. Nothin' happened. Seriously. What the hell ?"

"I'm just not interested."

"Oh my god. Did you hear him !?" Ted gasped.

"Yeah, i did hear it, brother !" John got his hand on Thomas' shoulder. "This guy needs our help."

"Can you leave me alone ? I said i'm fine."

"No, Tom, you ain't fine. At all. Not interested in sex ? Sorry, man. Human mind just doesn't work like that. It's not even an interest, you know ? It's a need. You need it."

"I have to agree on that." Ted pointed out. "But you should be careful. They mate for life, you know ?"

"Do they ?" John asked.

"Pokemons mate for life, right ?"

"Yeah, birds and shit. The rest of them are cool. They keep it casual."

"Will you two shut up !?" Thomas yelled. "Ugh ! Look, i'm not taking help from the 2 guys who just yesterday decided it was a good idea to drink at 7 A.M. Besides, i'm not stupid. I know how to handle a relationship."

"Ok, sure thing, man." John gave up. "You do whatever you want. But just so you know. If you ever need some help, just ask us."

"Hey, guys." Kate waved from the distance, as she and Will arrived back. "Did we miss anything ?"

"You bet your asses you did !" John responded. "Tom here is not single. Gotta say, did NOT see that comin'."

"Oh, that's great for you, Tom !" Kate exclamated. "Who is she ?"

"It's Jane." Will's eye suddenly opened widely.

"Thomas, can i talk to you alone for a second ?" He asked.

"Sure. What is it ?" Will kept silent, and dragged Thomas to the back of the house, where the others could not hear them.

"Thomas, is this serious ?" Will questioned.

"What ?"

"You and Jane. I mean, after all you told me, doesn't it seem...just a like weird ?"

"Will, Jane and i talked about this last night. It's ok."

"Fine. Then, let me ask you something, Thomas. Do you still have nightmares ?"

"Well...yes. I had them tonight. But i no longer wake up screaming at night."

"Well, don't you think it's gonna be a problem to wake up every day, after all those terribles dreams, look at her and remember you two are dating ? Seriously, Thomas. I'm trying to help you here. I don't think you're ready for this."

"There's nothing i can do now. I love Jane. And she loves me. Hopefully, that's all i need to know for the nightmares to stop over time. "

"Ok, then. I just hope you know this is a big deal."

"Thanks for the concern, Will."

-Meanwhile-

Going away from the house was a way of Kate to relax. Just by the calm waters of the river, where she could wash her face and enjoy the landscape for a minute.

As she approached the river to put her hands in the cold refreshing water, she noticed a slim figure in a white dress, with big pink eyes. The figure was sitting by the water, staring with a big smile on its face at the fish happily hoping in the water.

"Hello there." Kate approached the pokemon, who directed to her its attention.

"You're Kate, right ?" A sweet sounding female voice sounded in Kate's mind.

"Who said that ?" 

"Me. I'm speaking to you through telepathy."

"Oh, right. Sorry. I'm not used to that. You must be Jane. We never had the chance to speak."

"Nice to meet you, Kate."

"So, what are you doing ?"

"I'm just enjoying nature's peace. We all need to connect with nature."

"I agree. When you spend your time with three guys like i do, you really need to get away and have some time alone. Do you feel that way ?"

"Everyone needs some time alone. But i personally enjoy company."

"Is Thomas a good company ? He seems a little dark."

"He's...bittersweet. I've known him since i was a ralts."

"But i tought you two met when you were already a gardevoir."

"I joined his pokemon team as a gardevoir, but i know him since he was 6."

"Wow. That's a long time. Was he one of those lonely kids, who we just know would grow up to be senators or something ?"

"He was different. One day, he sneaked away from the orphanage and wandered the forest. And we met by accident. We just bonded. And then, he started sneaking off day after day to meet me."

"Oh, that's a nice story. I wish me and my friends had one as good as that. So, Jane...Will was talking to me today, when we went for a walk. He said something about a little talk he and Thomas had. Will said Thomas really helped him, and he mentioned that he had a very hard period himself, and did some things he regrets. He stills seems to be upset about whatever it was, and Will decided not to tell me, to respect Thomas' privacy. What i'm saying is...is he ok ? Because he still looks very sad about what he did, whatever it was."

"Don't worry. He will be ok. Thomas still blames himself, and needs some time to get over it. I'm a little worried about his nightmares, but he's getting better."

"What could have he done so bad ?"

"Well...we had some problems before the war. It's not something i like to remember."

"That's ok. I have some bad memories myself i wouldn't like to go over again. But i tell you this: whatever it was, i'm glad your friendship was strong enough for you to get through it. I'm sure Thomas is a great guy. Well, it was nice to talk to you, Jane."

Kate walked away. She knew it was none of her bussiness, but she couldn't help it. She was just so curious. She wanted to know what Thomas was going through. But thankfully, she respected his privacy and walked away before it got out of hand.

-At Night-

Thomas was getting ready to sleep. Regular procedure: he washed his face, got into bed and fell asleep. Simples as that. But now Jane was sleeping with him, which changed the M.O.

"I'm not tired yet." She said.

"I just don't get you." Thomas replied, getting in bed. "You don't want to sleep now, but i know you'll be tired in the morning."

"I can't help it. I don't want to sleep."

"Well, not only do i want to sleep, i have to. You need to be fresh in the morning to survive."

"Fine." Jane laid down next to him. "spoon with me."

"I hate that. It means you sleep like a baby, and i get my face full of hair."

"What about this ?" She wrapped both her arms around him, and laid her leg on top of his. "Good night, Tommy."

"Good night, Jane."

Before falling asleep, Thomas tought about what John said earlier. It was a little weird. And Thomas didn't hnoestly know wether he was interested or not. Neither did he know if Jane was.

"Crap." He tough. "He's right. I have no idea what i'm doing."

But that was something he would have to solve tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, people. I'm sorry if i took longer than usual to write this chapter. You see, this is the point of the story where sex was gonna appear but, as it turns out, i suck at erotic stories. So instead, you got Thomas and Jane spooning. This chapter was meant to be a LOT more akward. I just had to delete it and write a new one, cause it felt so akward to read it. Not sure you were in for the story, or just saw pokephilia tagged and decided to check for erotic scenes. If you did, sorry. If you didn't, great.


	9. HellFire

Thomas opened his eyes slowly, and yawned. He noticed his right hand was touching something soft. And it wasn't any of the sheets. He turned his head right, and became aware that he had his hand right on Jane's heart piece. Quickly, he opened his eyes widely and took his hand off her chest.

"Don't think i didn't notice it." Jane, who had just woke up, said.

"Sorry."

"It's ok. I don't mind." She smiled.

Thomas got dressed fast. He just had an apple for breakfast, and wandered around the house as usual, to look for anything suspicious. The human guests had left that night. They said they would still be heading north, to leave Kantos region. Thomas gave them a radio, to keep in touch.

So Thomas and Jane were once again, on their own. Thomas didn't have the chance to tell John he was right after all. Maybe Thomas really did need his help. It's not like John knew the first thing about relationships, but neither did Thomas.

Besides, Thomas wasn't sure about wether letting them just go was or not a good idea. After all the world was a very dangerous place. They could run into a wild pokemon. Or maybe into a crazy person who just managed to survive. Or maybe find one of those lunatics who tries to build a city-state and start some sort of apocalypse empire like in the movies, and then enslaves or kills everyone they found. A lot changed, but a lot remained the same. The world was still full of mad people. Now willing to sacrifice even more than before.

"Tom !" A distorced scream was heard at the distance. "Tom !"

The sound became higher. Thomas was alreadt carrying his shotgun, so he looked at the forest where the cry for help came from. Then, he saw Ted, with blood coming out of his leg, running slowly across the vegetation, nearly fainting from exhaustion.

"Ted !" Thomas grabbed Ted, who was almost falling down. "What happened ?!"

" The others, man." He said between breaths. "They got...caught up in the forest....by some maniac !"

"Maniac. Who ? What was he like ?"

"He was a human. Didn't get a good look at his face. Son of a bitch stabbed me in the leg. He has like a shitload of pokemons with him ! They are coming !"

"Fuck...JANE !"

The gardevoir quickly responded to his calling.

"What's wrong ?" She asked.

"Pokemons. They are coming to atack. Ted..." He turned his attention to him. "Can you guide us to that guy ?"

"Yeah. I remember the way."

"Ok. Your wound isn't bleeding much. So it did not hit any artery. Which is good, because we don't have time to put any bandage either. I have a plan. Ted, you have to lead Jane to this lunatic. I will distract the pokemons."

"Can't you just control their minds ?"

"Only one at a time. Besides...i pull the trigger faster. If all the pokemons are coming, Jane can handle that guy easily."

From the woods came a big noise. Many pokemons approaching. Thomas wouldn't take any risks. He was willing to kill. As soon as the first pokemon, that was a gallade, got out of the vegetation, Thomas shot him right in the head. He fell instantly. But then, more got out. An espeon, then a charizard, then a bunch of others. Humanoids, non humanoids, dragon like ones. Mainly there were psychic ones. The shot at one of their comrades made all of their attention go to Thomas, who ran way in one direction reloading the shotgun while moving as fast as he could, as the remaining wilde beasts ran behind him, giving Jane and Ted a chance to sneak away into the forest. Ted was walking ahead of her, showing her the way to Kate, John, Will and the unknown bastard. Then...she stopped floating.

All of the sudden, she fell. She could no longer float. She didn't know why. So she kept going on foot. Something was wrong. Very wrong. She was feeling weaker, as she got into the woods. Then it all got darker. There was still just as much light making its way across the leaves and onto the ground ahead of them, yet it all seemed...darker. Then, Jane turned sad. Then enraged. She didn't know why. She was just feeling for no reason. Every step she took forward, she felt sadder, angrier. Not even knowing what she was sad about, or angry at. She was just feeling like the world around her was getting darker, and darker, and darker. Something wasn't right about that forest...

Then, she saw Kate, Will and John. The 3 of them had their backs forced against a big tree. A pokemon was wandering around them. Guarding them. It was...not your everyday pokemon. It looked like a gardevoir. But something about it was not right. It noticed their presence, and turned its back on the humans to stare at Ted and Jane. Its gown, which was white before, was now black. Its eyes were red and glowing, instead of pink. It breathed heavily, with white foam coming out of its mouth. Its hair, previously green, was now completely black. It had giant claws of steel. That thing was not natural. It was some sort of manmade equipment, which it wore on its hands, giving it enormous steel claws. Its heart piece was red, but it much darker. And then, on top of its head, two big, red horns.

The simple sight of that...thing made Jane shake in fear. That thing was not a pokemon. It was a monster.

Then, a human figure was seen in the shadows. It approached enough to let its face be seen. Dough the humans were still too much in shock at the mutant gardevoir, Jane focused on the human being. Once his face was revealed, it appeared to be...Thomas ?

No. Not Thomas. It was like a demon version of Thomas. He wore blue jeans and a red jacket. His hair was dark and messy, just like Thomas'. He was quite tall, and just about Thomas' height. Dough its left eye was brown, like Thomas', its right eye was white. And he had an enormous scar, which began at the center of his forehead, crossisng straight through his white eye (meaning he was likely blinded from that eye) and ended in his cheek. Part of his face and his right hand had burning marks, that suggested a large portion of his body was also burnt. Looking at him, the mutant gardevoir calmed down.

"Zyon." He spoke, in a low, depressive voice, calling for the pokemon. "Come here, girl."

The mutant obeyed him, and stood by his side. Its glowing red eyes turned black and a little more peaceful and less scary.

Jane was still trying to put herself together. Why was he so much like Thomas ? Humans did kind of look alike to Jane, but not that much. Of course, there was only one person she knew that could match that description.

"M-Matt ?" She tought. His eyes open widely, and he looked surprised. He could read her mind too. So it was definately Matt.

"Jane. Hahahahahahaha...Long time no see, my dear friend."

"H-How ? How can it be ?! Y-You died !"

"Did i ? I'm more alive than ever !"

John, who stood with the others quietly, jumped out of his spot, and charged the human. He blocked his atack, like he could see what he would do before it happened, which he indeed could, and grabbed his fist inches away from his face. Then, with a crushing force, he compressed it, making the sound of John hand bones being crushed heard by everyone around. He only let go of his fist when he was down on his knees. Sure. It was Matt's trick. He didn't seem to have any outstanding muscles. He looked like a regular guy, but he was not. He was a killing machine.

"I'm sure you wonder how i survived, Jane." He said, making signal to his mutant to get John back to his spot near the tree. After that, none of the humans dared to move an inch. "First of all, don't call me Matt. Humanity knows me...as HellFire."

"What..." She said. "Y-You're HellFire ?!"

"You bet your sweet ass i am ! I see you already got to meet Zyon." He stretched his arm in direction of the mutant, that approached him again, and moaned as he petted its head. "Poor thing. I found her just before the war, in a criminal lab. They were doing research on her. She became a genetic abomination. I helped her. I used my abilities to show her she could be free. But this...these horns were not a part of the mutation. She got them when she joined me. Just like the heart piece is the manifestation of every gardevoir's heart, the horns are a physical manifestation of her soul. Personally, i like it. She's a better company than humans, at least."

While he talked, Jane took the chance to stand up and release one of her atacks. Shadow ball. Moonblast. Nothing worked.

"Don't bother." Matt said. "I'm using my abilities right now to block your brain's bioelectrical impulses. You cannot tell your body what to do. You have no power here."

"But...Thomas said..."

"Ha ! Let me guess. He said i was a weak asshole who could not survive. Well, i did. Mankind was nowhere near of being able to defeat me. All the things you might have heard about the army's effort to get me ? All media bullshit ! All of it ! They never stood a chance. They could get my pokemons, sure, but me...they could never get me. Oh, he didn't even tell you i was HellFire ? That explains your reaction."

"You son of a bitch !" Will shouted. "I'll kill you !"

"Hehe..." Matt laughed. "William Waterson. Son of Linda and Gerald Waterson, two everyday farmers from the countryside. Johnatan LaSalle, your classic redneck stereotype. Katelyn Todd, the classic feminist, independent woman. And Ted Wilson, your everyday guy from the big city." The 4 of them had their eyes opened widely. "Yes. That's right. I know it all. No. I never met any of you pieces of shit. I know it because your beloved 'X' powers are not so rare after all. He probably kept your darkest toughts and secrets hidden. But i will tell you the deal. You think i'm evil, don't you ? Well, none of you are in the right of judging me. I'll tell you why. Will..." He looked at Will.

"Oh, Thomas sure as hell gave you a good presentation on how to be a man, and take care of your friends. But admit it, Will. You are pathetic. Remember when your dad used to beat you senseless with a belt ? How he said you were worthless trash. And you were ! And you are ! You don't deserve the right to think you could ever be anything else than a stupid little excuse of a man. You were just not meant to lead., like real men."

Will's eyes filled with tears, confusion and anger. Then, he looked over at Kate.

"Oh, Kate, honey..." He said, amusing himself in a sarcastic tone. "All of your life, your mother told you you were meant to be so much more than she was her entire life. She lived as a slave to her husband. And she wanted you to be a successfull lady. She wanted you to be a role model. A strong, independent woman. Bitch, please ! Let's be realistic, Katelyn. Independent women look at you and feel sick. You never had, nor will you ever have, the guts to be anything else in life than a housewife, like your mother before you. How disappointed would you think your mother would be to see you now ? All you ever wanted in life was a man, whose shadow you could hide under. And not even that you could get. You got Will instead. Pathetic..."

"John..." He looked over at John. "I'm sure a lot of people wanted you dead, John. Remember back at the days, when you were in a street gang in your hometown. Raised on the streets, by the streets. Wasn't that your little slogan ? And you sure were good at blaming others for your atrocities. How many ? 4 ? 7 ? 10 ? 20 ? 30 innocent people sent to jail because of you ? How many did you bribe ? How many homeless did you beat up ? How many everyday hard workers did you shoot and injure for life over old debts ? And what are you now ? The same, probably, don't you think ? Your 'hommies' and you would agree. Once gangster, always a fucking gangster."

"Ted..." He then looked over at Ted. "All those women you lied to so you could get laid with them...do they know you're a fraud, Ted ? Have you told them that there was no money ? No international company that had you as the CEO ? No building with thousands of employees who would beg to kiss your ass ? No amazing maison by the shore ? No fantastic cruise that could host 100 and a crew of 40 ? Do...they...know ? You always lied for pleasure, but also for yourself. You just loved to take a break from your mediocre life and feel like a big shot all the time. But, Ted. Come on and take a look at the real world. No matter what you do for the rest of your life, you will never...be anything...but garbage."

"And then there's you..." Finally, Matt looked at Jane. "So tell me, Jane...how has my good ol' friend Thomas been doing ?"

"I...I haven't seen him since the war started."

"Oh, come on, Jane. You really think you can fool me ? Don't tell me the mighty X needs to hide behind one of his pokemons."

"I'm not his pokemon ! I'm his friend."

"Right...friends. Just like we used to be. Of course, you probably don't think that way of me anymore. But that's ok. I already got a replacement. And a better one than you." He pulled the mutant gardevoir close to him, that stared at Jane with hatred and rage. "Look at her. A poor, lost soul, doomed to be nothing more in life than a lab rat. Until faith brought me to her. She's a cold, heartless, evil killing machine. Just like me. Yet, a victim of abuse...just like you, ain't that right, Jane ?"

"I was never abused !"

"Keep telling that to yourself, Jane. You just know its true. You're probably just too blind. After years of seeing Thomas as your protector. After years of believing he could never, willingly or unwillingly, do you any harm. And just look how that turned out. He was too weak. He was an idiot. Bet he still is."

"Don't talk that way about him ! He's done more for everyone else than for himself. Unlike you !"

"HE RAPED YOU, JANE !!!"

After that shout, everything went quiet. Nothing moved for a second. No sounds. Nothing. Just the tears coming out of Jane's eyes, as she remembered.

"Don't you remember, Jane ?" He calmly spoke. "Don't you remember the pain ? The blood ? The tears ? Because i do. Know why ? Because i was there. Whose shoulder did you cry on for hours ? Who kept Thomas from killing himself ? Who kept him from going into fucking coma from all the alcohol !? Me ! It was all me ! So don't dare to say i've never done anything for you, or him. He left me...to die in the fire. He chose you over me...why ?"

Angrily, Matt pulled Jane from her knees, and with a powerful grip, he crushed Jane's heart piece. She screamed in pain, and Matt let go when it was almost near bleeding.

"What did Thomas ever see in you ?" He whispered to her ear. "What...did I...ever see in you ?"

Matt left go of her, letting her fall onto the ground.

"Go away." He ordered, giving signal to Zyon to step away from the humans. "Take these idiots with you and get the fuck out of my sight. If I ever see you again, i swear to the unexisting God, i will kill you."

He then turned, and walked away along with Zyon.

"And Jane..." He stopped, though not turning back. "Tell Thomas we need to have a talk. And don't worry. I won't be coming for you...he will be coming for me."

With that said, he disappeared in the darkness of the forest.

Jane ran, her heart piece still hurting, and tears coming down from her eyes. The humans ran behind her. They tried to ask what was going on. What was he talking about. She didn't responde. She just ran back to the house.

There, Thomas stood, staring at the trail of dead pokemon along the way. He was, in fact, willing to kill them all.

"How could you !?!" Jane slaped him as hard as she could, as he stared with surprise and confusion. Jane pushed him against the wooden wall. "How could you hide this from me !?"

"What ?" He said. "W-what are you talking about ?"

"Why didn't you tell me about Matt !? Why didn't you tell me he survived !?"

"What do you mean !? Matthew died !"

"He's alive ! And he's HellFire ! You knew all along."

"No...no ! That's impossible ! Matthew is dead ! HellFire is dead !"

"He isn't dead, Thomas."

Thomas looked down. He noticed how misshapen her heart piece was.

"Did he..." He stammered. "Did he do that to you ?"

"Yes..."

"My god...Matthew is alive. No....this can't be. This can't be !"

"Thomas !" John called to him. "What are you talkin' about ?"

"And who the fuck is Matthew ?"

Thomas pulled himself together.

"Matthew is HellFire." He said. "And HellFire...is my brother."


	10. Full Disclosure

The sun was already going down. Kate finished wrapping the bandage around John's broken fist. And Jane tried not to touch the bandage she had on her heart piece, that would hopefully help it healing back into its original form, for she was powerless without it. As soon as her bandage was put in place, she went inside, leaving the humans alone. Meanwhile, Thomas sat on the ground, looking into the small fireplace they just had made. Ted was still in some pain in his leg, though he was very lucky, for no arteries were hit and not much blood was lost. Will was still helping Kate with John's bandage.

By the time they were ready, all of them sat down around the fireplace. In a normal situation, they would be equally dispersed around it. This time, Will, Kate, John, Ted were sitting in one side, all of them compressed. Thomas was on the opposite side. He was the one who would have to speak.

"I'm sorry." He said. "I didn't want you to go through this. I tought i could just bury the past and move on, but...i can't do that. We can't do that. And i think you all deserve an explanation."

He stopped, took a deep breath, and look up, taking his eyes off the fire and facing the human. Though the humans were only curious and scared, Jane was sad. Mad, even. Mad to the point she had to go inside. She couldn't look at him.

"His real name is Matthew Longfield." Thomas continued. "We are brothers. Twins, actually. We were born in the very same day. June 14, 21 years ago. Our parents, Claire and Dwaine Longfield, were killed in a car accident, a few days after our birth. They never revealed any details about it, because of the police suspicious theories. They believed their car was sabotaged by a religious extremist group of some sort, due to their envolvement in many protests to abolish the laws regarding relationships between humans and pokemons. And as you know, such laws were very strict until a decade, or so. We were received in the Veridian City orphanage, and they only told us about our parents when we turned 13. You see, according to the autopsy of our parent's bodies, our father was taking a dangerous amount of drugs to control his stress levels, because of the constant threats from people that felt disgusted by their envolvement in allowing human/pokemon relationships. And our mother had an history of depression, as well as some cases of genetic anomalies in her family. The medics who diagnosed me and Matthew with the Longfield gene are not quite sure, but they believe the drugs and the genetics were the cause of our mutation. I always embraced my powers, but Matt didn't. The doctors said the mutation was causing different effects on us. In me, it only allowed me to read and control minds, of pokemons and humans. But Matthew had it another way. He could only control the minds of pokemons. He could read human minds, but not control them. However, this reading was much faster and more effective. He can know what we are about to do before he do it. Which made him a great fighter. But...its brain was not developing right. For some reason, his brain's emotional center was disconnected. Which means certain situations or toughts don't trigger the same emotional response. He could watch a baby dying in front of him and feel nothing about it, as long as he did not have any personal relation with him. That means his 'pack mentality' doesn't work either. He sees only the individual value, and does not care about his species. Which explains why he feels no regret about what he did. He is biologically uncapable of being sad about what he did. He grew up without any major problems, but the real issues started right after i joined the Pokemon League. He was always hiding from the cameras that followed me, because he didn't want to be revealed. When i was at my lowest, he was there for me. If it wasn't for him, i would be dead by now. We ended up having a huge discussion, and i rather not go into details on that. However, in that same night, police finally took action for my illegal activities. Matt was pretty much running the bussiness, since i was too depressed to do it. In panic, as the police sieged the place, we...i don't know. Maybe we did something irresponsible and stupid, like leaving something inflammable exposed to light. All i know is that the place was on fire in no time. Matthew fell down unconscious from the smoke. And Jane was still sleeping in her room. I had to make a choice. I could only help one..."

All of them stared in shock. The surroundings were silent for a fraction of a second. Thomas kept looking at the fireplace, as if he was remembering the fire that nearly killed Matt.

"Matt was more of a help to her than i was." Thomas concluded. "I don't know why i did what i did. I don't know why i saved Jane, and not Matthew. I could not...compare who meant more to me. They meant just as much to me. So why did Jane get to be saved and not him ? I don't know. I guess i tought he was tough. And he would make it out alive. And he got out alive, indeed. I'm not sure what he did during the 3 months i was in jail. Jane went back to the wild during that time. And Matthew still had the money from the pokemon traffic. The police probably tought he was dead. I'm not sure about why he did what he did either. I tought he died in the war."

Thomas stood up, just about to leave.

"Where are you going ?" They asked.

"Inside." He responded. "There is something i can't delay any longer."

He opened the door and closed it behind him, then walked over to Jane's room. He took a peek inside. She was lying on her bed, though Thomas knew she was not sleeping. So he sat down next to her.

"I should have told you." He spoke, trying not to sound rough, or make Jane even more upset. "I'm sorry."

"Why, Thomas ?" She got up and faced him. She didn't look mad. She was never mad. She looked sad. Disappointed. "Why didn't you tell me ?"

"For the same reason i didn't tell you about my nightmares, Jane. Some things just...hurt to remember."

"Matthew is alive. What does that mean for us ?"

"Matthew is the only person whose mind i cannot hack. I need to decide what to do. For now, that doesn't matter. All that matters is that i...well, i didn't make the best choices, Jane. I don't know what path i should've taken. Maybe there was something i could have done to avoid all this."

"We had this talk before, stupid." She gently smiled. "You've done a lot for everyone. You can't beat yourself up. I'm just sad that you didn't tell me about Matt. Were you scared ? Were you affraid of how i would react ?"

"We lost too much, Jane. I couldn't tell you Matthew was HellFire. You were his friend too. And i was his brother. I wanted him to be remembered for the good times we had growing up. I didn't want you or me to remember his name, and think about what he did wrong. Jane...we would never have survived as friends without him. He was there for us when we...when i fucked up."

"I saw him, Thomas. He isn't the same...he's no longer Matthew."

"You're right. He's not Matthew anymore. He is HellFire now. And that's my point. I don't want to remember HellFire. I want to remember him. I want to remember...Matt."

"Me too."

After a small moment of silence, Jane had realised that Thomas did the right thing. Jane liked Matthew. She was angry at HellFire, and treated him like a whole different person back at the forest. Thomas wanted Jane to preserve her image of him: the funny, smart ass, wise and caring Matthew. Not HellFire.

"I'll sleep in my room tonight." She said, kissing his cheek. "Good night, Thomas."

"Good night, Jane." 

Thomas left Jane's room.

"Well, Thomas..." He tought. "It's about time you face your demon."


	11. Loves and Hatreds

Jane, for a change, did not wake up with her optimistic usual smile in her face. She was still a little confuse, perhaps a bit upset about what Thomas did. She could not avoid it.

What if Thomas was still hiding stuff from her ? What if he still had secrets ? Maybe something he is ashamed of. Or something that hurts him to remember. Or even something that he wants fo tell, but can't, for the same reason he couldn't tell Jane Matthew was alive.

She got up from her bed and headed out. Thomas always woke up early to walk around. The humans were camping by their door again. She could see none of them. They were still inside their tents. Makes sense. Only Thomas woke up so early. He would usually just search around the house for danger, even if there wasn't one single case where danger striked at such hour. Evil needs sleep too, after all. Jane could hear something. Sounded like Thomas' voice.

Soon i'll be sixty years old...

Sounded like a song. And it came from the river. So Jane went through the dense vegetation. Next to the water, Thomas stood, staring at the fish. He would usually get in the water and catch one. But he was only staring at the water flowing through.

Soon i'll be sixty years old  
Will i think the world is cold  
Or will i have a lot of children who can warm me  
Soon i'll be sixty years old...

"You don't have a voice that nice..." She teased. Thomas was not surprised by her presence.

"Don't i ? That's a shame." He smiled. "It's my favourite song."

"What are you doing here ?"

"I always come here. There is something about this place. It's very relaxing. I was...thinking about HellFire."

"You know what to do ?"

"Yes. I've decided to do nothing. We will stay here, and don't look for him."

"But what if he comes for us ?"

"In a last resort, i would have to..."

"To ?"

"I would have to shoot him. Wouldn't kill him. I don't think i'm willing to. But i can't take any risks. He is, after all a very dangerous person. But we have nothing to worry about. I killed his pokemons. And a ruler is nothing without his army."

"He still has one pokemon."

"Right. But mutant pokemons don't scare me. In another matter, there's something i wanted you to have."

"What ?"

"Wait here a minute."

He walked away. "oh boy." She tought. "What can it be ?". Thomas was an emotional supporter, but he didn't give a lot of gifts. Whatever it was, it was something that meant a lot to him. Last time he gave Jane something, it was something cheap, or worhless by normal standart, but that meant a lot to him anyways.

"Nice place, isn't it ?" An emotionally dead voice spoke. Jane turned around that second, and had a hand covering her mouth, and something sharp, like a knife, pointed at her head. Who else but...

"Matt..." She tought, recognizing him for his scar, and cold dead soulless eyes.

"Looking at this ?" He passed his finger in the scar. "Not much. Just a little thing i got fighting some humans back at the war. I know it's a normal pun to say 'you should see the other guy', but....seriously, you should see the other guy. But enough talking about me."

"Let me go!" She tried to use her powers. But her heart piece was still not functional. And even if it was, Matthew would probably just either block her powers or break it again.

"Quiet ! We're going for a little walk. Don't worry about Thomas. I sent Zyon over to get him."

Waving the rusty knife in front of her eyes, he guided Jane helplessly through the woods. The way ahead seemed dark, though it was no darker than the path they had been through. It was just a trick Matthew used to play with the mind of his victims. And it was quite effective, actually.

HellFire slowed down as he saw the debris of Veridian City up ahead, but quickly got back on his pace, forcing Jane to move in front of him while pointing the knife in her direction. She knew she could not escape. No man fools death, and no pokemon fools HellFire. So He finally stopped, when reaching to the city. The concrete floor was extremely hot from the continuous exposure to sunlight, which was terrible for Jane, since she was always barefoot.

Though she was in pain, HellFire kept pushing her through the destruction, until reaching one of the few building that still stood. It was a rather large one. The largest still standing, probably. It had no details, and most walls were down. It was almost nothing but the iron infrastructure. The few walls that were intact were of a dark depressive tone of grey. But Jane could recognize it, when she stared at the part of the forest just behind it. It looked very familiar. It looked like that place had a very special place in her heart, even tough it's not nothing more than the ruins of what once was a human building, in a human city.

"Remember this place, Jane ?" HellFire spoke in her mind. "It's my home. Well, what used to be my home. Well actually, the ruins of what used to be my home. And Thomas's home. This is the orphanage, Jane. This is where me and Thomas met you. And the place we had the dishonor to call home for 13 years. You see, i never liked this place. Never liked the other kids. Never liked the building. Never liked my room. And i really never liked that bitch Miss Westwood, who was the head of this place."

"Then why did you bring me here ?"

"Because i know it's a special place for you. It's where you met the person you care most about in the world. And i tought it would be the perfect place to end it all."

He forced Jane onto her knees. Then put his knife in his pocket, and grabbed a gun from his back. A small, black pistol.

"Matt !" She cried. "Why are you doing this, Matt !?"

"Yeah." Jane heart's shattered upon hearing the terrifying sound of a bullet entering the gun's chamber. "Why am i doing this ? Or do you mean 'why did you do this' ? I don't know about you Jane, but I'll live just fine knowing i killed Thomas' bitch."

"What did you do to him..." Matthew was shocked by Jane's face filled with tears, yet an angry look. "What did you to to Matthew ?"

Suddenly, Matthew amused and entertained face changed to a dark, serious and hateful look.

"Matthew is nothing but the shadow of the man i am now." He said. "Matthew is what i was, not what i am. Matthew would have tought twice about shooting you down, helpless on your knees. Not me, though. You mean nothing to me. And i start to wonder if you ever did."

"Was it because of me ? Was it something i did ? Or something Thomas did ?"

"I don't understand."

"Look around you !" She opened her arms. HellFire took a look around. The soulless emptyness, the destruction. Even the skies seemed red with the blood of the people who died in that place. "People lived here. Innocent people. And you killed them. Why !?"

"Because...they were going to die anyway."

"What ? Why would they die ? What are you talking about ?"

"Don't you get it, Jane ? I did all of this to save your kind ! Thomas wasn't the only one with problems, you know ?! I also felt what pokemons felt. Difference is Thomas was the one sitting on his ass, like a pussy, crying and drinking, while I was the one doing something about it ! And then, i understood what the problem was. The problem was...us. It was all of us. I did this because Humanity was only going to change if i made it change. I brought mankind to the limit. Because it is only when we are in the limit, when there is no more hope, and all he have left is our force of will, that we change. Humanity is not something i am proud to belong to. We were always hateful, narcissistic, obcessed with seeing our reflection in everything. I am ashamed to carry the same genetic code as them, and i barely sleep knowing that all that separates me from them is the fact...nothing. I can't deny it. And i think Thomas feels the same as well. Being human is terrible. For everyone. Including ourselves. They say i don't have a shred of Humanity in me. And that's great. I wouldn't want to have anything to do with Humanity."

"So...that's why ? You really think that no one deserves to live for being human ? Not even yourself ?"

"Not really. Humans were many times responsible for amazing things. I personally find it a shame to throw away so much potential. But nature shouldn't pay for our mistakes. We should...the same way you'll pay for yours right now."

"W-what did i do ?"

"Look at you ! You don't have the guts to be anything but a slave to a human. You know why i have such a great relationship with my pokemons ? Because i see them as comrades. Comrades that will turn their back on me if i turn mine on them. He raped you, Jane... and you still think of him as a friend. How pathetic..."

"Why do you hate Thomas !? Or do you only hate the fact he loves me ?"

"Please ! I know Thomas. He didn't change a bit ! He never did. He's still the same ignorant drunk asshole he was ! He is uncapable of loving you. Or anyone else, for that matter."

"You think Thomas didn't love you ? You were his brother. He cared about you."

"He chose you over me ! He left me to die ! And for what !? To save the shadow of a gardevoir that you are ! You've lost touch with nature. You can't make it on your own anymore. That's why your stuck with him. Was i...was i that meaningless to him ? Was i that meaningless to everyone ?"

"You weren't ! We cared about you !"

"Please...who did ever care about me ?"

"I did. I...i loved you, Matthew."

HellFire's eyes open widely. He lowered the gun, and Jane wiped away her tears.

"I wouldn't have made it without you, Matthew." She spoke. "You were there for me when i needed. When Thomas failed me. When i hated him. You were there. You listened to my problems. I told you everything. And for a second, i...tought you felt my pain. Now...i don't even know who you are anymore. Thomas made one mistake. Something he at least regrets. How didn't i see it before ? You...you're a monster."

"Well...if there is something in the other side, we'll have a lot of time to think about it...in hell. So long, Jane."

"YOU !!!" Before HellFire could squeeze the trigger, a shout of hatred sounded behind him. He could instantly recognize it, so he pulled Jane from her knees, putting his arm around her neck in the perfect position to break it, and turned around while still pointing the gun to her head.

"Well look who it is." HellFire looked at Thomas's eyes. If he didn't have his powers as well, his mind would be already reduced to ashes. Since their mind controlling powers neutralized each other, all they had left were their guns. HellFire had his pointed at Jane's head, and Thomas tried to point his shotgun over Jane's shoulder, to hit him and miss her, though that was nearly impossible.

"Let her go." Thomas demanded. "This is between you and me."

"How did you get past Zyon ?"

"Since when do pokemons stop me ? She'll wake up in 24 hours. Giving me time enough to shoot you."

"Come on now, Thomas. You wouldn't shoot your own brother, would you ?"

"My brother died in that fire..."

"Wow. Big words coming from you. I guess you would be willing to shoot me. But how about Jane here, huh ? You know i really couldn't give less of a shit about wether she dies or not."

"I am sick of this ! I'm sick of you haunting me ! I'm sick of you thinking you could ever get away with this ! Let go of Jane, Matthew. As i said, this is between you and me."

"True. But you have the bigger gun. Besides, war was never made to be a fair game. In fact, nothing in this world was made to be fair."

"Not even life itself..."

"What ? What are you talking about ?"

" Do you really think you travelled across the world and atacked every major city thinking you were some sort of avenger ? Some sort of messiah sent to free the pokemons ? Why don't you admit it, Matthew ? Why can't you admit you're disgusted by the fact...you are a human. You hate the fact you are a human. You cannot blame Humanity for being corrupted. Flawed. Defective. Because you are corrupted. You are flawed. You are defective. But we all are. It's a part of being human. To live in a world with no wars, no murder, no destruction would be to live in a world where Humanity became something less...human."

"Actually, corrupted is only a human definition. There is no such thing as corruption. Corruption is to ignore the greater good in favor of personal benefit."

"And it's what bothers you, isn't it ? We are haunted by things that don't even exist. The biggest demons are in our minds. Except for me. My biggest demon...is you."

"Ah...And neither can you admit it, Thomas. You don't deserve to think you changed. You and I know you're still a drunken loser. And it would be fine for you. The only reason the idea of being such thing bothers you is because it was that drunken loser who took away the innocence of this stupid pokemon."

Seizing the small window of oppurtunity, Jane kicked HellFire's face with the back of her head, releasing herself from his arm around her neck, and kicking away his pistol. HellFire quickly tried to grab the gun again, but was stopped when Thomas immediately stepped on his hand with his foot as he reached to the ground to get the gun back. Guessing his next move, Thomas also kicked HellFire in the face one more time using the back of his shotgun, though that was not enough to stop him, as he used his other hand to reach to his pocket and grab the small knife. So Thomas got his foot off his hand just before he stabbed it to free himself, and picked the pistol.

There was already a bullet in the gun's chamber. 0,5 seconds before HellFire could take a shot at his leg, incapacitating him. So with an opening of only 0'5 seconds, Thomas could calculate the small space in HellFire's belly where no organs were. And pulled the trigger...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just for the sake of the story, here's Thomas' favourite song: "7 years", by Lukas Graham.
> 
> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LHCob76kigA


	12. Epilogue

Thomas impatiently awaited outside the small tent. The sun was down, and the light from the fire allowed him to see the shadow of Kate moving around the tent, and Matthew, struggling to stay alive. Ted, John and Will stood there by Thomas's side. Jane was inside, unable to face Matthew.

Finally, Kate got out of the tent, with her gloves covered with blood.

"Well, i wanted to be a psychiatrist, not a surgeon. But i managed to stabilize him.." She said. "The bullet is still intact and it missed the stomach by a fraction of an inch. He will recover."

"Can i...see him ?" Thomas' voice seemed darker than ever.

"Sure. He's barely awake, though."

Thomas entered the tent. The inside was quite large, but nothing out of ordinary. On the floor, Matthew was lying down, with his eyes barely open, showing no emotions or reaction as Thomas came on his sight. He had bandages all around his belly, and even with half his chest covered, Thomas could still tell the burning marks all over him.

"I have to give you credit, Thomas..." He whispered. "I never expected you to have the balls to do it."

"You will be ok." Thomas responded.

"Why ? Why did you save me ?"

"Bacause...humans are rare now. Even you are valuable. I cannot afford to lose anyone else."

"Right. So...what happens now ? You rebuild Humanity ? We live happily ever after ?"

"Don't fool around, Matthew."

"Hehe...come on, Thomas. I know the both of us think the same. Being a human sucks. Is it really worth it to help our species surviving ? After all, the definition of 'species' is quite overestimated. A species is only a matter of reproduction. It does not matter if a species survives. All that matters is that life survives. Life must survive. 'May the strongest live. May the weakest die'. That's the law of evolution, Tom. Mankind was the weakest link."

"Humanity is still alive. And it will remain so for a long time. People are very creative when it comes to survival. And even more, when it comes to repopulating."

"Did you...did you just do a dirty joke ? Nice. Really nice."

"I'm not kidding."

"Well, maybe you're right. A lot of bad people are gone. And some good ones as well. I guess Humanity paid its debt. But then again...we never really pay our debts. Do we, Thomas ?" 

Thomas stood silent, as a mad, sarcastic smile appeared on Matthew's face, before the blood loss forced him to close his eyes and go to sleep. 

"Is he awake ?" Will asked Thomas, as he got out of the tent.

"No." He answered. "Look...i'm sorry if you all had to get through this."

"That's cool, bro." John said. "By the way, what are we gonna do with her ?" 

He pointed to Zyon, the mutant gardevoir, still unconscious, lying down on the ground. Ted managed to find some rope among their items to tie her up and prevent any threat.

"Just keep watching her." Thomas responded. "So...i guess this is goodbye. I wish you good luck outside Kantos."

"No way, man." Ted interrupted. "We are staying here. With you."

"Yeah." Kate continued. "You were right. Human life is too rare now. We can't stay separated. We need to stick together."

"After all, we gotta prove Matthew wrong, don't we ?" Will proceded. "We gotta show the best of Humanity."

"Well, i don't have acommodations for you to stay permanently. But...perhaps a city nearby has still standing building to be used."

"Whoa. Are you serious ?" John gasped. "Are you willing to leave this place ?"

"It's just a house. As long and you and Jane are with me, i will build my house anywhere."

"That's great, Tom."

"Now, if you excuse me..." He opened the front door. "There's something i have to do with no delay."

Thomas walked slowly until Jane's room. She was there, sanding by her bed, awaiting him.

"Jane..." He spoke. "I...didn't have the chance to give you something."

"What is it ? I am dying to know."

"This." Thomas pulled out a small, familiar book. "I know i didn't tell you some things. I kept secrets from you i wished i didn't. And maybe you still feel like i'm hiding something. And that's ok. Maybe i am, and i don't even know. So, i'm giving you this. My diary. It has everything. Everything i knew. Everything i tought. Everything i dreamt since the war ended."

"Thomas, i can't take this."

"Take it." He insisted. "I don't want there to be more secrets between us. Keeping secrets is what made me miserable all along."

"Thanks, Thomas." She smiled.

"Read the last page."

"Why ?"

"Just do it."

Jane skipped ahead to the last page. It didn't look like a normal entry. It was directly adressed to her.

"Jane,

i've known you for as long as i can remember. I can't even imagine where i would be now if i never met you. You made me the person i am today. I could have never make it without you. Since we first met that you were the one of the few persons i could always count on. And since the war ended that you are the only thing that keeps me from going insane. Life would't be the same without you. And i hope that even after all i've done, you feel the same about me. Without you, i would just be X. You are what makes me Thomas.

I love you, Jane."

Jane finished reading, and hugged Thomas tight, kissing him passionately.

"I love you too, Thomas."

And so was the story the day after the fall of mankind. Of course, that was only the beggining of the story of Thomas and Jane. Only the beggining of the story of Matthew. Only the beggining of the story of Kate, Ted, John and Will. And of course, only one more chapter in the history of Humanity...


End file.
